How to make a wind one. Do-it-yourself vertical wind generators. Main advantages of wind generators

With rising prices for electricity, there is a search and development of it everywhere. alternative sources. In most regions of the country, it is advisable to use wind generators. To fully provide electricity to a private home, a fairly powerful and expensive installation is required.

Wind generator for home

If you make a small wind generator, you can use electric current to heat water or use it for some lighting, such as outbuildings, garden paths and porches. Heating water for household needs or heating is the simplest option for using wind energy without its accumulation and conversion. Here the question is more about whether there will be enough power for heating.

Before making a generator, you should first find out the wind patterns in the region.

A large wind generator is not suitable for many places in the Russian climate due to frequent changes in the intensity and direction of air flows. With a power above 1 kW, it will be inertial and will not be able to fully spin up when the wind changes. Inertia in the plane of rotation leads to overloads from cross winds, leading to its failure.

With the advent of low-power energy consumers, it makes sense to use small homemade wind generators with no more than 12 volts to illuminate the dacha with LED lamps or charge telephone batteries when there is no electricity in the house. When this is not necessary, an electric generator can be used to heat water.

Wind generator type

For windless areas, only a sail wind generator is suitable. To ensure a constant power supply, you will need a battery of at least 12V, a charger, an inverter, a stabilizer and a rectifier.

For low wind areas you can make your own vertical wind generator, with a power of no more than 2-3 kW. There are many options and they are almost as good as industrial designs. It is advisable to buy wind turbines with a sail rotor. Reliable models with power from 1 to 100 kilowatts are produced in Taganrog.

In windy regions, you can make a vertical generator for your home with your own hands if the required power is 0.5-1.5 kilowatts. Blades can be made from available materials, for example, from a barrel. It is advisable to buy more productive devices. The cheapest are “sailboats”. A vertical windmill is more expensive, but it works more reliably in strong winds.

Do-it-yourself low-power windmill

It is not difficult to make a small homemade wind generator at home. To start working in the field of creating alternative energy sources and gaining valuable experience in this, how to assemble a generator, you can make a simple device yourself by adapting a motor from a computer or printer.

12V Wind Generator with Horizontal Axis

To make a low-power windmill with your own hands, you must first prepare drawings or sketches.

At a rotation speed of 200-300 rpm. the voltage can be raised to 12 volts, and the generated power will be about 3 watts. It can be used to charge a small battery. For other generators, the power must be increased to 1000 rpm. Only in this case will they be effective. But here you will need a gearbox, which creates significant resistance and also has a high cost.

Electrical part

To assemble an electric generator, you need the following components:

1. a small motor from an old printer, disk drive or scanner;
2. 8 diodes type 1N4007 for two rectifier bridges;
3. capacitor with a capacity of 1000 microfarads;
4. PVC pipe and plastic parts;
5. aluminum plates.

The figure below shows the generator circuit.

Stepper motor: connection diagram to the rectifier and stabilizer

Diode bridges are connected to each motor winding, of which there are two. After the bridges, the LM7805 stabilizer is connected. The resulting output is a voltage that is typically applied to a 12-volt battery.

Electric generators using neodymium magnets with extremely high adhesive force have become very popular. They should be used carefully. With a strong impact or heating to a temperature of 80-250 0 C (depending on the type), neodymium magnets demagnetize.

You can take a car hub as the basis for a self-made generator.

Rotor with neodymium magnets

Approximately 20 pieces of neodymium magnets with a diameter of about 25 mm are glued onto the hub with superglue. Single-phase electric generators are made with an equal number of poles and magnets.

Magnets located opposite each other must attract, that is, they are turned with opposite poles. After gluing the neodymium magnets, they are filled with epoxy resin.

The coils are wound round, and the total number of turns is 1000-1200. The power of the neodymium magnet generator is selected so that it can be used as a direct current source, about 6A, for charging a 12 V battery.

Mechanical part

The blades are made from plastic pipe. Blanks 10 cm wide and 50 cm long are drawn on it and then cut out. A bushing is made for the engine shaft with a flange to which the blades are attached with screws. Their number can be from two to four. Plastic will not last long, but it will be enough for the first time. Nowadays, quite wear-resistant materials have appeared, for example, carbon and polypropylene. Stronger blades can then be made from aluminum alloy.

The blades are balanced by cutting off excess parts at the ends, and the angle of inclination is created by heating them and bending them.

The generator is bolted to a piece of plastic pipe with a vertical axis welded to it. An aluminum alloy weather vane is also installed coaxially on the pipe. The axle is inserted into the vertical pipe of the mast. A thrust bearing is installed between them. The entire structure can rotate freely in a horizontal plane.

The electrical board can be placed on the rotating part, and the voltage can be transmitted to the consumer through two slip rings with brushes. If the board with the rectifier is installed separately, then the number of rings will be equal to six, the same number of pins as the stepper motor has.

The windmill is mounted at a height of 5-8 m.

If the device generates energy efficiently, it can be improved by making it vertical-axial, for example, from a barrel. The structure is less susceptible to lateral overloads than horizontal ones. The figure below shows a rotor with blades made from fragments of a barrel, mounted on an axis inside the frame and not subject to overturning force.

Windmill with a vertical axis and a barrel rotor

The profiled surface of the barrel creates additional rigidity, due to which thinner sheet metal can be used.

Wind generator with a capacity of more than 1 kilowatt

The device must provide tangible benefits and provide a voltage of 220 V so that some electrical appliances can be turned on. To do this, it must start independently and generate electricity over a wide range.

To make a wind generator with your own hands, you must first determine the design. It depends on how strong the wind is. If it is weak, then the only option may be a sailing version of the rotor. You cannot get more than 2-3 kilowatts of energy here. In addition, it will require a gearbox and a powerful battery with a charger.

The price of all equipment is high, so you should find out whether it will be beneficial for your home.

In areas with strong winds, a homemade wind generator can produce 1.5-5 kilowatts of power. Then it can be connected to a 220V home network. It is difficult to make a device with greater power yourself.

Electric generator from a DC motor

As a generator, you can use a low-speed motor that generates electric current at 400-500 rpm: PIK8-6/2.5 36V 0.3Nm 1600min-1. Case length 143 mm, diameter – 80 mm, shaft diameter – 12 mm.

What does a DC motor look like?

It requires a multiplier with a gear ratio of 1:12. With one revolution of the windmill blades, the electric generator will make 12 revolutions. The figure below shows a diagram of the device.

Wind turbine design diagram

The gearbox creates an additional load, but it is still less than for a car generator or starter, where a gear ratio of at least 1:25 is required.

It is advisable to make the blades from aluminum sheet measuring 60x12x2. If you install 6 of them on the motor, the device will not be so fast and will not spin during large gusts of wind. The possibility of balancing should be provided. To do this, the blades are soldered to bushings with the ability to screw onto the rotor so that they can be moved further or closer from its center.

The power of a generator using permanent magnets made of ferrite or steel does not exceed 0.5-0.7 kilowatts. It can be increased only with special neodymium magnets.

A generator with a non-magnetized stator is not suitable for operation. When there is a slight wind, it stops, and after that it will not be able to start on its own.

Constant heating in the cold season requires a lot of energy, and heating big house- This is problem. In this regard, it can be useful for a dacha when you have to go there no more than once a week. If you weigh everything correctly, the heating system in the country only works for a few hours. The rest of the time the owners are in nature. Using a windmill as a source of direct current to charge the battery, in 1-2 weeks you can accumulate electricity to heat the premises for such a period of time, and thus create sufficient comfort for yourself.

To make a generator from an alternating current motor or a car starter, they need to be modified. The motor can be upgraded to become a generator if the rotor is made with neodymium magnets, machined to their thickness. It is made with the same number of poles as the stator, alternating with each other. The rotor with neodymium magnets glued to its surface should not stick when rotating.

Rotor types

Rotor designs vary. Common options are shown in the figure below, which shows the values ​​of the wind energy utilization factor (WEI).

Types and designs of wind turbine rotors

For rotation, windmills are made with a vertical or horizontal axis. The vertical option has the advantage of ease of maintenance when the main components are located at the bottom. The support bearing is self-aligning and has a long service life.

The two blades of the Savonius rotor create jerks, which is not very convenient. For this reason, it is made of two pairs of blades, spaced apart by 2 levels with one rotated relative to the other by 90 0. Barrels, buckets, and pans can be used as blanks.

The Daria rotor, the blades of which are made of elastic tape, is easy to manufacture. To facilitate promotion, their number should be odd. The movement occurs in jerks, which is why the mechanical part quickly breaks. In addition, the tape vibrates when rotating, making a roar. This design is not very suitable for permanent use, although the blades are sometimes made of sound-absorbing materials.
In an orthogonal rotor, the wings are made profiled. The optimal number of blades is three. The device is fast, but it must be untwisted when starting.

The helicoid rotor has high efficiency due to the complex curvature of the blades, which reduces losses. It is used less often than other wind turbines due to its high cost.

The horizontal blade rotor design is the most efficient. But it requires stable average winds and also requires hurricane protection. Blades can be made from propylene when their diameter is less than 1 m.

If you cut the blades from a thick-walled plastic pipe or barrel, you will not be able to achieve a power higher than 200 W. A profile in the form of a segment is not suitable for a compressible gaseous medium. This requires a complex profile.

The diameter of the rotor depends on how much power is required, as well as the number of blades. A 10 W two-blade requires a rotor with a diameter of 1.16 m, and a 100 W rotor needs 6.34 m. For a four- and six-blade, the diameter will be 4.5 m and 3.68 m, respectively.

If you place the rotor directly on the generator shaft, its bearing will not last long, since the load on all the blades is uneven. The support bearing for the windmill shaft must be self-aligning, with two or three tiers. Then the rotor shaft will not be afraid of bending and displacement during rotation.

A major role in the operation of a windmill is played by the current collector, which must be regularly maintained: lubricated, cleaned, adjusted. The possibility of its prevention should be provided, although this is difficult to do.

Safety

Windmills with power exceeding 100 W are noisy devices. An industrial wind turbine can be installed in the courtyard of a private house, if it is certified. Its height should be higher than the nearest houses. Even a low-power windmill cannot be installed on the roof. Mechanical vibrations from its operation can create resonance and lead to the destruction of the structure.

High rotation speeds of the wind generator require high quality workmanship. Otherwise, if the device is destroyed, there is a danger that its parts may fly away over long distances and cause injury to people or pets. This should be especially taken into account when making a windmill with your own hands from scrap materials.

Video. DIY wind generator.

The use of wind generators is not advisable in all regions, since it depends on climatic conditions. In addition, it makes no sense to make them yourself without some experience and knowledge. To begin with, you can start creating a simple design with a power of several watts and a voltage of up to 12 volts, with which you can charge your phone or light an energy-saving lamp. The use of neodymium magnets in the generator can significantly increase its power.

It is better to purchase powerful wind turbines that take over a significant portion of the home’s power supply, producing industrial ones that create a voltage of 220V, carefully weighing all the pros and cons. If you combine them with other types of alternative energy sources, there may be enough electricity for all household needs, including the home heating system.

For a long time, humanity has been using the power of the wind. Windmills and sailing ships are familiar to many; they have been written about in books and historical films with their participation are made. Nowadays, the wind power generator has not lost its relevance, because

you can use it to do free electricity at the dacha, which can also come in handy if the power goes out in the area. Let's talk about homemade windmills, which can be assembled from scrap materials and available parts.

For you, we have provided one detailed instruction with pictures, as well as video ideas for several more assembly options. So, let's look at how to make a wind generator with your own hands at home.

Assembly instructions

There are several types of wind turbines: horizontal and vertical, turbine. They have fundamental differences, pros and cons. The operating principle of all wind generators is the same - wind energy is converted into electrical energy and accumulated in batteries, and from them is used for human needs. The most common type is horizontal.

Familiar and recognizable. The advantage of a horizontal wind generator is its higher efficiency compared to others, since the windmill blades are always under the influence of air flow. Disadvantages include the requirement for winds above 5 meters per second. This type of windmill is the easiest to make, which is why home craftsmen often take it as a basis.

If you decide to try your hand at assembling a wind generator yourself, here are some recommendations. You need to start with the generator, this is the heart of the system; the design of the screw assembly depends on its parameter.

Imported automobiles are suitable for this; there is information about the use of stepper motors, from printers or other office equipment.

You can also use a bicycle wheel motor to make your own windmill to generate electricity.

Having decided on the unit for converting the wind flow into electric current, you need to assemble the gear unit for increasing the speed from the propeller to the generator shaft. One revolution of the propeller transmits 4-5 revolutions to the shaft of the generator unit.

When the gearbox-generator assembly is assembled, we begin to determine its torque resistance (grams per millimeter). To do this, you need to make an arm with a counterweight on the shaft of the future installation, and using a weight, find out at what weight the arm will go down. Less than 200 grams per meter is considered acceptable. Once we know the shoulder size, this is our blade length.

Many people think that the more blades the better. This is not entirely true, since we make the wind generator ourselves, and the parts of the future power plant are in the budget range.

We need high speeds, and many propellers create greater wind resistance, as a result of which at some point the oncoming flow slows down the propeller and the efficiency of the installation drops. This can be avoided with a two-bladed propeller. In normal winds, such a propeller can spin up to or more than 1000 revolutions.

You can make the blades of a homemade wind generator from available materials - from plywood and galvanization to plastic from water pipes (as in the photo below) and more. The main condition is light and durable.

A lightweight propeller will increase the efficiency of the windmill and sensitivity to air flow. Be sure to balance the air wheel and remove any unevenness, otherwise you will hear whining and howling noises while the generator is running.

The next important element is the tail. It will keep the wheel in the wind flow, and rotate the structure if its direction changes.

It’s up to you to decide whether to make a current collector or not; perhaps you can make do with a connector on the cable and periodically unwind the twisted wire by hand. During the test run of the wind generator, do not forget about safety precautions; blades spinning in the wind flow can chop cabbage like a samurai.

A tuned, balanced windmill is installed on a mast at least 7 meters high from the ground, secured with spacer cables.

You cannot connect the output of a homemade wind generator directly to the battery; this must be done through a charging relay; you can assemble it yourself or purchase a ready-made one.

The principle of operation of the relay is to control the charge, and in case of charge, it switches the generator and battery to load ballast, the system strives to always be charged, preventing overcharging, and does not leave the generator without load.

A windmill without load can spin up quite strongly to high speeds, damaging the insulation in the windings with the generated potential. In addition, high speeds can cause mechanical destruction of wind generator elements.

Now the Internet is full of diagrams and drawings, where craftsmen show how to make a wind generator on powerful magnets on one's own. Whether to repeat it or not is up to you; no one knows whether it will justify itself. But it’s worth trying to assemble a wind power generating installation for your home, and then decide what to buy, what to leave or make changes.

Gain experience and perhaps aim for a more serious device.

The freedom and variety of homemade windmills is so vast and the element base is diverse that there is no point in describing them all, the main meaning remains the same - the wind flow spins the propeller, it transmits torque to the gearbox, increasing the shaft speed, the generator produces voltage, then the relay keeps the charge level at battery, and energy is already taken from it for various needs.

Using this principle, you can make a wind generator with your own hands at home. We hope that our detailed instructions with photo examples explained to you how to make a suitable windmill model for your home or cottage. We also recommend that you take a look at the assembly master classes homemade device, which we have provided in the video below.

Visual video lessons

To easily make a wind generator to generate electricity at home, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the ready-made ideas in the video examples:

So we have provided all the most simple ideas assembling a homemade windmill. As you can see, even a child can easily make some models of devices.

There are many other homemade options, but in order to get a high output voltage, you need to use complex mechanisms, such as magnetic generators.

Otherwise, if you want to make a wind generator so that it works and is used for its intended purpose, proceed according to the instructions we provided!

Source: https://samelectrik.ru/sborka-samodelnogo-vetryaka.html

Do-it-yourself low-speed wind generator from a car generator

A wind generator made from a car generator can help in a situation where a private home does not have the ability to connect to a power line.

Or it will serve as an auxiliary source of alternative energy. Such a device can be made with your own hands from scrap materials, using the best practices of folk craftsmen.

Photos and videos will demonstrate the process of creating a homemade wind turbine.

Wind generator design

There is a huge variety of types of wind generators and drawings for their manufacture. But any design includes the following mandatory elements:

• generator;
• blades;
• storage battery;
• mast;
• the electronic unit.

With some skills, you can make a wind generator with your own hands

In addition, it is necessary to think through the control and distribution system of electricity in advance and draw an installation diagram.

Wind wheel

The blades are perhaps the most important part of a wind generator. The operation of the remaining components of the device will depend on the design. They are made from different materials. Even from a plastic sewer pipe. Pipe blades are easy to manufacture, inexpensive and not susceptible to moisture. The procedure for manufacturing a wind wheel is as follows:

1. It is necessary to calculate the length of the blade. The diameter of the pipe should be equal to 1/5 of the total footage. For example, if the blade is one meter long, then a pipe with a diameter of 20 cm will do.
2. Using a jigsaw, cut the pipe lengthwise into 4 pieces.
3. From one part we make a wing, which will serve as a template for cutting out subsequent blades.
4. We smooth out burrs on the edges with abrasive.
5. The blades are fixed to an aluminum disk with welded strips for fastening.
6. Next, the generator is screwed to this disk.

Blades for wind wheel

After assembly, the wind wheel needs balancing. It is mounted horizontally on a tripod. The operation is carried out in a room closed from the wind. If the balancing is carried out correctly, the wheel should not move. If the blades rotate on their own, then they need to be sharpened until the entire structure is balanced.

Only after successful completion of this procedure should you proceed to checking the accuracy of rotation of the blades; they should rotate in the same plane without distortion. Please allow 2mm error.

Mast

To make a mast, an old water pipe with a diameter of at least 15 cm and a length of about 7 m is suitable. If there are buildings within 30 m of the intended installation site, then the height of the structure is adjusted upward. For efficient work Blade wind turbines lift the obstacle at least 1 m above the obstacle.

The base of the mast and the pegs for securing the guy wires are concreted. Clamps with bolts are welded to the stakes. For guy wires, galvanized 6 mm cable is used.

Advice. The assembled mast has considerable weight; if installed manually, you will need a counterweight made of a pipe with a load.

Generator conversion

To make a windmill generator, a generator from any car is suitable. Their designs are similar to each other, and the modification boils down to rewinding the stator wire and making a rotor with neodymium magnets. Holes are drilled in the rotor poles to fix the magnets. Install them alternating poles. The rotor is wrapped in paper, and the voids between the magnets are filled with epoxy resin.

In the same way, you can remake the engine from an old washing machine. Only the magnets in this case are glued at an angle to avoid sticking.

The new winding is rewound along the reel onto the stator tooth. You can make a random winding, depending on who you are comfortable with. The greater the number of turns, the more efficient the generator will be. The coils are wound in one direction according to a three-phase circuit.

The finished generator is worth testing and measuring data. If at 300 rpm the generator produces about 30 volts, this is a good result.

Generator for a windmill from a car generator

Final assembly

The generator frame is welded from profile pipe. The tail is made of galvanized sheet. The rotary axis is a tube with two bearings.

The generator is attached to the mast in such a way that the distance from the blade to the mast is at least 25 cm. For safety reasons, it is worth choosing a calm day for the final assembly and installation of the mast.

When exposed to strong winds, the blades can bend and break against the mast.

To use batteries to power equipment that operates on a 220 V network, you will need to install a voltage conversion inverter. The battery capacity is selected individually for the wind generator. This indicator depends on the wind speed in the area, the power of the connected equipment and the frequency of its use.

Wind generator device

To prevent the battery from being damaged by overcharging, you will need a voltage controller. You can make it yourself if you have sufficient knowledge in electronics, or buy a ready-made one. There are many controllers available for sale for alternative energy production mechanisms.

Advice. To prevent the blade from breaking in strong winds, install a simple device - a protective weather vane.

Wind generator maintenance

A wind generator, like any other device, needs technical control and service. To ensure uninterrupted operation of the windmill, the following work is periodically carried out.

Wind generator operation diagram

1. The current collector requires the most attention. Generator brushes need to be cleaned, lubricated and preventatively adjusted every two months.
2. At the first sign of a malfunction of the blade (shaking and imbalance of the wheel), the wind generator is lowered to the ground and repaired.
3. Every three years, metal parts are coated with anti-corrosion paint.
4. Regularly check the fastenings and tension of the cables.

Now that the installation is complete, you can connect devices and use electricity. At least while it's windy.

Do-it-yourself generator for a windmill: video

Wind generator for a private home: photo

Source: https://dachadizain.ru/postrojki/inventar/vetrogenerator-svoimi-rukami.html

How to make a 220V vertical wind generator for your home with your own hands

Electricity is steadily becoming more expensive. To feel comfortable outside the city in hot summer weather and frosty winter days, you need to either spend a lot of money or look for alternative energy sources. Russia is a huge country with large flat areas.

Although slow winds prevail in most regions, the sparsely populated areas are blown by powerful and violent air currents. Therefore, the presence of a wind generator on the farm of a country property owner is most often justified.

A suitable model is selected based on the area of ​​application and the actual purposes of use.

Windmill #1 - rotor type design

You can make a simple rotary windmill with your own hands. Of course, he is unlikely to be able to supply electricity to a large cottage, but he is quite capable of providing electricity to a modest garden house. With its help you can provide light in the evening outbuildings, illuminate garden paths and the surrounding area.

This is what a DIY rotary wind generator looks like, or almost like this. As you can see, there is nothing overly complicated in the design of this equipment.

Preparation of parts and consumables

To assemble a wind generator whose power will not exceed 1.5 kW, we will need:

• generator from car 12 V;
• acid or gel battery 12 V;
• converter 12V – 220V at 700 W – 1500 W;
• large container made of aluminum or of stainless steel: bucket or large pan;
• car battery charging relay and charge warning lamp;
• semi-hermetic push-button switch 12 V;
• a voltmeter from any unnecessary measuring device, maybe a car one;
• bolts with washers and nuts;
• wires with a cross section of 2.5 mm2 and 4 mm2;
• two clamps with which the generator will be attached to the mast.

To complete the work, we will need metal scissors or a grinder, a tape measure, a marker or a construction pencil, a screwdriver, keys, a drill, a drill bit, and wire cutters.

Progress of design work

We are going to make a rotor and remake the generator pulley. To get started, we will need a cylindrical metal container. Most often, a pan or bucket is used for these purposes.

Take a tape measure and a marker or construction pencil and divide the container into four equal parts. If we cut metal with scissors, then in order to insert them, we must first make holes. You can also use a grinder if the bucket is not made of painted tin or galvanized steel.

In these cases, the metal will inevitably overheat. We cut out the blades without cutting them all the way through.

In order not to make a mistake with the sizes of the blades that we cut into the container, it is necessary to take careful measurements and carefully recalculate everything

We mark and drill holes for the bolts in the bottom and in the pulley. At this stage, it is important to take your time and position the holes in a symmetrical manner to avoid imbalance during rotation. The blades should be bent, but not too much.

When performing this part of the work, we take into account the direction of rotation of the generator. It usually rotates in a clockwise direction. Depending on the bending angle, the area of ​​influence of wind flows increases, and, therefore, the rotation speed.

This is another blade option. IN in this case each part exists separately, and not as part of the container from which it was cut

Since each of the windmill blades exists separately, each one needs to be screwed on. The advantage of this design is its increased maintainability

The bucket with the finished blades should be secured to the pulley using bolts. We install the generator on the mast using clamps, then connect the wires and assemble the circuit. It is better to rewrite the diagram, wire colors and contact markings in advance. The wires also need to be fixed to the mast.

To connect the battery, we use 4 mm2 wires, the length of which should not be more than 1 meter. We connect the load (electrical appliances and lighting) using wires with a cross section of 2.5 mm2. Don't forget to install the converter (inverter). It is connected to the network at pins 7.8 with a 4 mm2 wire.

The design of the wind turbine consists of a resistor (1), generator starter winding (2), generator rotor (3), voltage regulator (4), reverse current relay (5), ammeter (6), battery (7), fuse (8) , switch (9)

Advantages and disadvantages of this model

If everything is done correctly, this wind generator will work without creating problems for you. With a 75A battery and a 1000W converter, it can power street lighting, burglar alarm, video surveillance devices, etc.

The installation diagram clearly demonstrates exactly how wind energy is converted into electricity and how it is used for its intended purpose

The advantages of this model are obvious: it is a very economical product, can be easily repaired, and does not require special conditions for its functioning, it works reliably and does not disturb your acoustic comfort. The disadvantages include low performance and significant dependence on strong gusts of wind: the blades can be torn off by air currents.

Windmill #2 - axial design with magnets

Until recently, axial wind turbines with iron-free stators on neodymium magnets were not made in Russia due to the inaccessibility of the latter. But now they are available in our country, and they cost less than originally. Therefore, our craftsmen began to produce wind generators of this type.

Over time, when the capabilities of a rotary wind generator no longer provide all the needs of the economy, it is possible to make an axial model using neodymium magnets

What needs to be prepared?

As a basis axial generator you need to take a hub from a car with brake discs. If this part has been in use, it must be disassembled, the bearings must be checked and lubricated, and the rust must be cleaned off. The finished generator will be painted.

To thoroughly clean the hub from rust, use a metal brush that can be attached to an electric drill. The hub will look great again

Distributing and securing magnets

We have to glue magnets onto the rotor disks. In this case, 20 magnets measuring 25x8mm are used.

If you decide to make a different number of poles, then use the rule: in a single-phase generator there should be as many magnets as there are poles, and in a three-phase generator the ratio of 4/3 or 2/3 poles to coils must be observed.

Magnets should be placed alternating poles. To ensure their location is correct, use a template with sectors printed on paper or on the disk itself.

If possible, it is better to use rectangular magnets rather than round ones, because for round ones the magnetic field is concentrated in the center, and for rectangular ones - along their length. Opposing magnets must have different poles.

To avoid confusing anything, use a marker to mark their surface with “+” or “-”. To determine the pole, take one magnet and bring others to it. Put a plus on attracting surfaces, and a minus on repelling surfaces.

The poles on the disks must alternate.

The magnets are correctly placed. Before fixing them with epoxy resin, it is necessary to make sides from plasticine so that the adhesive mass can harden and not slide onto the table or floor

To secure the magnets, you need to use strong glue, after which the bonding strength is further strengthened with epoxy resin. Magnets are filled with it. To prevent the resin from spreading, you can make borders from plasticine or simply wrap the disc with tape.

Three-phase and single-phase generators

A single-phase stator is worse than a three-phase one because it vibrates when loaded. This occurs due to the difference in the amplitude of the current, which arises due to its inconsistent output at a time. The three-phase model does not suffer from this drawback. The power in it is always constant, because the phases compensate each other: if in one the current drops, in the other it increases.

In a debate between single-phase and three-phase options, the latter comes out victorious, because additional vibration does not prolong the life of the equipment and irritates the ears

As a result, the output of the three-phase model is 50% higher than that of the single-phase model. Another advantage of the absence of unnecessary vibration is acoustic comfort when operating under load: the generator does not hum during operation. In addition, vibration always disables a wind generator before its service life expires.

Coil winding process

Any specialist will tell you that before winding the coils you need to make a careful calculation. And any practitioner will do everything intuitively. Our generator will not be too fast.

We need the charging process of the 12-volt battery to begin at 100-150 rpm. With such initial data, the total number of turns in all coils should be 1000-1200 pcs.

It remains to divide this figure by the number of coils and find out how many turns there will be in each.

To make a wind generator more powerful at low speeds, you need to increase the number of poles. At the same time, the frequency of current oscillation in the coils will increase. It is better to use thick wire to wind the coils.

This will reduce the resistance, which means the current will increase. It should be taken into account that at high voltage the current may be “eaten up” by the winding resistance.

A simple homemade machine will help you quickly and accurately wind high-quality coils.

The stator is marked, the coils are put in their places. To fix them, epoxy resin is used, the flow of which is again resisted by plasticine sides

Due to the number and thickness of the magnets located on the disks, generators can vary significantly in their operating parameters. To find out what power to expect as a result, you can wind one coil and spin it in the generator. To determine future power, the voltage should be measured at certain speeds without load.

For example, at 200 rpm it produces 30 volts with a resistance of 3 ohms. We subtract the battery voltage of 12 volts from 30 volts, and divide the resulting 18 volts by 3 ohms. The result is 6 amperes. This is the volume that will go to the battery. Although practically, of course, it comes out less due to losses on the diode bridge and in the wires.

Most often, the coils are made round, but it is better to extend them a little. At the same time, there is more copper in the sector, and the turns of the coils are straighter. The diameter of the inner hole of the coil should match the size of the magnet or be slightly larger.

Preliminary tests of the resulting equipment are carried out, which confirm its excellent performance. Over time, this model can be improved

When making the stator, keep in mind that its thickness should correspond to the thickness of the magnets. If the number of turns in the coils is increased and the stator is made thicker, the interdisk space will increase and the magnetic flux will decrease. The result may be the same voltage, but less current due to the increased resistance of the coils.

Plywood is used as a form for the stator, but you can mark sectors for the coils on paper, and make borders from plasticine. The strength of the product will be increased by fiberglass placed on the bottom of the mold and on top of the coils.

The epoxy resin should not stick to the mold. To do this, lubricate it with wax or Vaseline. For the same purposes, you can use film or tape. The coils are fixed to each other motionlessly, the ends of the phases are brought out.

Then all six wires are connected in a triangle or star.

The generator assembly is tested using hand rotation. The resulting voltage is 40 volts, and the current is approximately 10 Amperes.

The final stage - mast and propeller

The actual height of the finished mast was 6 meters, but it would have been better to make it 10-12 meters. The base for it needs to be concreted. It is necessary to make such a fastening so that the pipe can be raised and lowered using a hand winch. A screw is attached to the top of the pipe.

PVC pipe - reliable and sufficient lightweight material, using which you can make a windmill propeller with a predetermined bend

To make a screw, you need a PVC pipe with a diameter of 160 mm. A six-blade, two-meter propeller will have to be cut out of it. It makes sense to experiment with the shape of the blades to increase torque at low speeds. The propeller must be moved away from strong winds. This function is performed using a folding tail. The generated energy is stored in batteries.

The mast must be raised and lowered using a hand winch. Additional stability of the structure can be given using tension cables

We present to your attention two options for wind generators, which are most often used by summer residents and owners of country real estate. Each of them is effective in its own way. The result of using such equipment is especially evident in areas with strong winds. In any case, such an assistant in the household will never hurt.

Source: https://aqua-rmnt.com/otoplenie/alt_otoplenie/vetrogenerator-svoimi-rukami.html

Wind generator from scrap materials, how to make a 220 volt wind generator with your own hands

Every year people search for alternative sources. A homemade power station from an old car generator will come in handy in remote areas where there is no connection to the general network. It will be able to freely charge batteries, and will also ensure the operation of several household appliances and lighting.

You decide where to use the energy, what will be generated, and most importantly, assembling a wind generator will not entail large financial costs, but it will allow you to save significantly. Make it yourself or purchase it from manufacturers, of whom there are plenty on the market.

In this article we will help you understand the issue.

Let's consider the operating principle of a wind power plant. Under a fast wind flow, the rotor and screw blades are activated, after which the main shaft begins to move, rotating the gearbox, and then generation occurs.

At the output we get electricity. Therefore, the higher the rotation speed of the mechanism, the greater the productivity.

Accordingly, when locating structures, it is necessary to take into account the terrain, relief, and know the areas of the territories where the vortex speed is high.

Instructions for assembling a windmill from a car generator

You can make it, but to do this you will need to prepare all the necessary components in advance. The most important element is a generator.

It is best to take it from a tractor or bus; it can generate much more energy, but if this is not possible, then you can get by with weaker units.

To assemble the device, in addition to a car generator, you will need: a voltmeter; battery charging relay; steel to make blades; 12 volt battery; wire box; 4 bolts with nuts and washers;

Clamps for mounting the generator.

make your own wind generator from a car generator

Assembling the device

When everything you need has been collected, you can proceed to assembling the wind generator. Each of the wind generator options may have additional details, but they are clearly stated directly in the manual.

First of all, you need to assemble a wind wheel - this is one of the main structural elements, because it is this part that will transform wind energy into mechanical energy. It is best if it consists of 4 blades. Remember that the fewer blades a windmill has, the more mechanical vibration it will experience and the more difficult it will be to balance it.

They can be made from sheet steel or an iron barrel. The shape of the blades should not be the same as you saw in old windmills, but should resemble a wing-type blade. Such blades have much lower aerodynamic drag and higher efficiency.

After you use a grinder to cut out a windmill with blades with a diameter of 1.2-1.8 meters, you need to attach it together with the rotor to the c-axis of the generator, drilling holes and connecting with bolts.

Assembling the electrical circuit

We secure the wires and connect them directly to the battery and voltage converter. You need to use everything that you were taught to make in school physics lessons when assembling an electrical circuit.

Before you start developing, think about how much power you need. It is important to note that automobile generators without subsequent conversion to magnets and rewinding of the stator are not at all suitable for a wind generator; operating speeds are 1.2 thousand-6 thousand.

rpm, which is not enough to produce energy. It is for this reason that it is necessary to get rid of the excitation coil. To increase the voltage level, you need to rewind the stator with a thin wire.

As a rule, the resulting power of your generator at 10 m/s will be 150-300 watts. After assembly, the rotor will magnetize well, as if power was connected to it.

Homemade rotary wind generators are very reliable in operation and cost-effective; their only imperfection is the fear of strong gusts of wind. The principle of operation of a wind generator from a self-generator is simple - a vortex through the blades causes the generator to spin.

In the process of these intense rotations, energy is generated, the voltage you need.

Such a power plant is a very successful way to provide electricity small house, of course, its power will not be enough to pump water out of a well, but you can watch TV or turn on the lights in all rooms with its help.

Windmill from a car generator video step-by-step instructions.

A simple wind generator made from a fan

The fan itself may not be in working condition, but only a few parts are required from it - a stand and the screw itself. For the design you will need a small stepper motor soldered with a diode bridge so that it produces a constant voltage, a shampoo bottle, a plastic water pipe approximately 50 cm long, a plug for it and a lid from a plastic bucket.

A sleeve is made on a machine and fixed in the connector from the blades of the disassembled fan. The generator will be attached to this bushing. After securing, you need to start making the housing for the future windmill. Cut off the bottom of a shampoo bottle using a machine or manually.

During cutting, it is also necessary to leave a hole at 10 so that you can insert an axle machined from an aluminum rod into it. Attach it to the bottle with a bolt and nut. After soldering to the generator of all necessary wires, another hole is made in the body of the bottle to output these same wires.

We stretch them out and secure the bottle on top of the generator. They must match in shape and the body of the bottle must reliably hide all parts of the generator.

Shank for wind generator

In order for the windmill in the future to capture wind flows from different sides, you need to make a shank using a pre-prepared tube. The tail section will be attached to the generator using a screw-on shampoo cap.

They also make a hole in it and, having previously placed a plug on one end of the tube, pull it through and attach it to the main body of the bottle. On the other hand, the tube is sawed through with a hacksaw and the wing of the shank is cut out with scissors from the lid of the plastic bucket; it should have a round shape.

All you need to do is simply cut off the edges of the bucket that attach it to the main container.

We attach a USB output to the back panel of the stand and put all the resulting parts into one. You can attach the radio or recharge your phone through this built-in USB port. Of course, a wind generator made from a fan motor does not have strong power, but it can still provide lighting from one light bulb.

Step-by-step assembly of a windmill with your own hands

Wind generator from a stepper motor

How to make a wind generator from a stepper motor? After all, even at a low rotation speed it produces about 3 W of power. The voltage can rise above 12 V, and this allows you to charge a small battery. A stepper motor from a printer can be inserted into a future wind generator as a generator.

In generator mode, the stepper motor produces alternating current, and it can be easily converted to direct current using several diode bridges and capacitors. You can easily assemble the circuit with your own hands. The stabilizer is installed behind the bridges, resulting in a constant output voltage. To monitor visual tension, you can install an LED.

In order to reduce the loss of 220V, Schottky diodes are used to rectify it.

Blades for a wind generator can be made from PVC pipe. The blade blank is drawn on the pipe and then cut out with a cutting disc. The propeller span should be about 50 cm, and the width of the blades should be 10 cm. You need to machine a sleeve with a flange to the size of the motor shaft.

It is mounted on the motor shaft and secured with screws; plastic blades will be attached directly to the flanges. It is also necessary to carry out balancing - pieces of plastic are cut from the ends of the blades, the angle of inclination can be changed by heating and bending.

The generator itself is inserted into a piece of pipe, to which it is also bolted. As for the electrical board, it is better to place it at the bottom, and connect power from the generator to it. There are up to 6 wires coming out of the stepper motor, which correspond to two coils.

They require slip rings to transfer electricity from the moving part. By connecting all the parts together, you can proceed to testing the design, which will begin to rotate at 1 m/s.

Homemade wind generator for heating

Wind generator made from a motor-wheel and magnets

Not everyone knows that a wind generator from a motor-wheel can be made with your own hands without significant financial costs and in a short time; the main thing is to stock up on the necessary materials in advance.

For a wind generator based on a motor-wheel, the Savonius rotor is best suited; you can purchase it ready-made or make it yourself. It consists of two semi-cylindrical blades and an overlap, from which the axes of rotation of the rotor are obtained.

You also need to make the blades, you can choose the material for them yourself using wood, fiberglass or PVC pipe, which is the simplest and the best option. We make a place for connecting the parts, where you need to make holes for fastening in accordance with the number of blades.

A steel rotating mechanism is also required so that the wind generator can subsequently withstand any weather. A windmill made from a hoverboard motor-wheel with video instructions.

Wind generator made of ferrite magnets

It will be difficult for inexperienced craftsmen to make a wind generator from magnets, but you can still try. So, the generator must have four poles, each of which will contain two ferrite magnets.

They will be covered with metal pads slightly less than a millimeter thick to distribute a more uniform magnetic flux. There should be 6 main coils, rewound with a thick wire and should be located through each magnet, occupying a space corresponding to the length of the magnetic field.

The winding and magnet circuits can be mounted on a grinder hub, in the middle of which a pre-machined bolt is installed.

The flow of energy supply is regulated by the height of the stator mounting above the rotor; the higher it is, the less sticking, and accordingly the power decreases.

For the wind generator, you need to weld a support-stand, and attach 4 large blades to the stator disk, which you can cut from an old metal barrel or a lid from a plastic bucket.

At an average rotation speed, the wind generator produces approximately 20 watts.

Generator for a windmill with cores of ferrite magnets.

Wind generator with neodymium magnets

If you want to know how to create a wind generator, you need to make the base of a car hub with brake discs; this choice is quite justified, because it is powerful, reliable and well balanced.

After you have cleaned the hub of paint and dirt, you need to move on to placing the neodymium magnets directly.

You need 20 of them on a disk, their size should be 25x8 millimeters.

Magnets must be placed taking into account the alternation of poles; before gluing, it is better to create a paper template or draw lines dividing the disk into sectors so as not to confuse the poles.

It is very important that magnets facing each other are wrapped in different poles, that is, they attract each other. The magnets are glued with super glue; it is necessary to make borders along the edges of the disks and in their center by wrapping cattle or sculpting them from plasticine to prevent spreading.

In order for a wind generator made on neodymium magnets to operate with maximum efficiency, the stator coils should be calculated correctly.

An increase in the number of poles leads to an increase in the frequency of the current in the coils, due to this, the generator, even at a low rotation frequency of the blades, produces more power. The coils are wound with thicker wires in order to reduce the resistance in them.

Wind generator with neodymium magnets step by step instructions

When the main part of the generator is ready, the blades are made as in the previous case and secured to the mast, which can be made from an ordinary plastic pipe with a diameter of 160 mm. After all, a wind generator operating on the principle of magnetic levitation, with a diameter of one and a half meters and six blades at 8 m/s, is capable of providing power up to 300 W.

The price of disappointment or an expensive weather vane

Today there are many options for making a wind generator, each method is effective in its own way. If you are familiar with the methods of manufacturing energy-generating equipment, then it will make no difference to you whether you make it from a car generator or from a printer, the main thing is that it meets the circuit you have in mind and produces good power at the output.

Comparison of wind generators video

alternative energy wind generator wind turbines

Smart greenhouse A smart greenhouse is classified into main categories: Advantages of a greenhouse Irrigation and ventilation Solar distillation…

The issue of wind energy in our innovative times is of interest to many people. Those who have visited at least once European countries in your car, you’ve probably seen huge wind farms.
Hundreds of generators are found along the way.

Observing this picture, many begin to believe that generating electricity using wind is a very promising and profitable activity. Wise Europeans cannot make mistakes.

At the same time, for some reason the fact is ignored that in other places in Europe there are practically no such wind power plants. Why did it happen?
This is exactly what this article will discuss, when, where and how it is profitable to use wind turbines and when it is not.

Autonomy

Surely, after the next increase in the price of electricity, you have thought about installing a wind generator on your site. Thus, providing, if not all, then most of your electricity needs.

Some are even thinking about becoming independent from power grids in this way. How realistic and possible is this? Unfortunately, for 90% of private home owners, these dreams will remain dreams.

And so that you don’t waste your money, we’ll tell you, laying out all the numbers, why this is exactly so.

Wind speed

Unfortunately, there are not many regions in our country where the wind speed is at least 5-7 meters per second. The data is taken on average per year. In the vast majority of latitudes suitable for habitation, this same speed is a maximum of 2-4 m/s.

This means that your wind turbine will simply not work most of the time. For stable generation of electricity, it needs a wind of about 10 m/s.

If the wind in your area is 7 m/s, then the generator will operate at a maximum of 50% of its nominal value. And if it’s only 2 m/s, then by 5%.

In fact, in an hour, a 2kW generator will give you no more than 100W.

You will also encounter another wind problem that manufacturers are silent about. Near the ground, its speed is much lower than at the top, where industrial installations with a height of 25-30m are installed.

You will install your unit at a maximum of ten meters. Therefore, do not even rely on wind tables from different sites. This data is not suitable for you.

Manufacturers modestly keep silent about the fact that for their wind resource maps, measurements are made at an altitude of 50 to 70 meters! In addition, data on turbulence and eddies are not taken into account.

If you try to raise it higher than 10m, you will definitely think about lightning protection. Blades electrified by air friction, a very tasty bait for discharges!

In addition, for some reason everyone only worries about such a parameter as wind speed, and at the same time forgets about its density or pressure. And the difference for energy is quite significant. The dependence of electricity generation on wind pressure is disproportionate.

So, when the wind pressure doubles, the generated power increases eight times!

In addition, there is a certain deceit in the specified technical characteristics of the generators.

Of course, you can trust them, but only under ideal conditions. Because:

• and in laminar flow with constant direction and increased density

On your summer cottage The wind speed may be such that it will not be possible to even rotate the shaft, let alone generate energy.

And this is in spring or autumn. It is during this period that the most active movements of air masses occur.

Do not forget that the windmill does not operate in idle mode, but must spin the generator rotor surrounded by neodymium magnets.

And this is only as long as the electrical potential of the windmill is lower than the battery voltage. When the voltage is sufficient to begin charging, the battery turns into a load.

If you use low-speed designs with a vertical axis of rotation, then there is already a step-up gearbox. Have you tried to spin up the boost gearbox? This design becomes more complicated, increasing weight, windage, and cost.

Even at lighthouses Northern Fleet, given the constant winds and polar night there, experts prefer to use solar panels. When asked why this is so, the answer is simple – there are fewer problems!

Batteries for wind turbines

Large industrial wind turbines can transmit energy directly to the grid, bypassing any batteries.

But you won’t be able to do without them. Without a battery, neither the TV nor the refrigerator will work. Even the lighting will shine in fits and starts, depending on gusts of wind.

Moreover, over 12-15 years of operation of the generator, you will be required to change 3-4 sets of batteries, thereby doubling your initial costs. Moreover, we take almost the ideal option, when the batteries will be discharged no more than half of their capacity.

Of course, you can buy cheap battery models, but this will not reduce your costs. Just going to the store for new batteries will be done not 4 times, but 8 times.

Where is the best place to install

Another thing worth seriously thinking about is the availability of free space. Moreover, in area it can extend 100 meters or more in each direction from the mast.

The wind should move freely along the blades and reach them from all sides without interference. It turns out that you must live either in the steppe or near the sea (preferably directly on its shore).

The ideal location would be on top of a hill. Where, from an aerodynamics perspective, the air flow is compressed with a corresponding increase in wind speed and pressure.

Forget about your neighbors nearby. Their gardens and two-three-story mansions will “drink your blood” great, blocking the tailwind every time. As well as neighboring forest plantations.

The same industrial windmills are not placed directly next to each other, but are mounted diagonally. Each subsequent one should not cover the previous one.

Price per 1 kW of power

4th reason – high price. Don't be fooled by sellers' prices on price lists. They never show the actual cost of all the equipment needed.
Therefore, always multiply prices by 2, even when choosing so-called ready-made kits.

But that's not all. Don't forget about operating costs, reaching up to 70% of the cost of wind turbines. Try to repair the generator at height, or dismantle and disassemble and reassemble the mast each time.

Don't forget to periodically replace the battery. Therefore, do not expect that a windmill can cost you 1 dollar per 1 kW of electricity.

When you calculate all the real costs, it turns out that every kilowatt of power from such a wind generator cost you at least 5 bucks.

Payback period and savings calculation

The fifth reason is inextricably linked with the first four. This is the payback period.

For your individual wind installation, this period is NEVER.

The cost of a windmill, mast and additional equipment for 2-kilowatt high-quality models will reach an average of 200 thousand rubles. The productivity of such installations is from 100 to 200 kW per month, no more. And this is in good weather conditions.

Even precipitation reduces the power of wind turbines. Rain by 20%, snow by 30%.

So your entire savings turns out to be 500 rubles. In 12 months of continuous work, a little more will accumulate – 6 thousand.

But if you remember the initial expenses of 200 thousand, then you will return it in thirty-two years!

And all this without taking into account operating costs. And if you estimate that the average service life of a good windmill is about 20 years, then it turns out that it will completely and irreparably break down even before it reaches its payback period.

At the same time, a 2-kilowatt unit will not cover 100% of your needs. Maximum by a third! If you want to connect everything entirely from it, then take a 10-kilowatt model, no less. This will not change the payback period.

But here there will be completely different dimensions and weight.

And simply attaching it to a pipe through the attic of your roof will definitely not work.

However, some are still convinced that due to the endless rise in price of electricity, a wind generator will one day become profitable.

When should you buy a windmill?

Of course, electricity becomes more expensive every year. For example, 10 years ago, its price was 70% lower. Let's make approximate calculations and find out the prospects for the windmill to break even, taking into account the sharp increase in the cost of electricity.

We will consider a 2 kW generator.

As we found out earlier, the cost of such a model is about 200 thousand. But taking into account all the additional expenses, you need to multiply it by two. The result will be at least 400 thousand rubles. costs, with a service life of twenty years.

That is, in a year it turns out to be 20 thousand. In fact, this year the unit will give you a maximum of 900 kW. Due to the coefficient installed capacity (for small wind turbines it does not exceed five percent), in a month you will generate 75 kW.

Even if we take 1000 kW per year for simplicity of calculations, the cost of 1 kW/h obtained from a wind turbine will be 20 rubles for you. Even if we assume that electricity from thermal power plants will rise in price by 4 times, then this will not happen tomorrow, and not even in 5 years.

Which wind turbines to choose

Well, for those who live far from substations and 0.4 kV overhead lines, it is worth purchasing the most powerful models of wind turbines that you can afford. Since you will get no more than 15% of the power indicated in the pictures.

Another category of consumers, quite rightly, makes a choice not in favor of Chinese factory models, but, on the contrary, prefers homemade windmills from self-taught craftsmen. This also has its benefits.

For the most part, the inventors of such devices are competent and responsible guys. And in almost 100% of cases, you can return the installation to them without any problems if something goes wrong or it needs to be repaired. There will certainly be no problems with this.

Industrial Chinese windmills have a prettier appearance, of course. And if you still decide to buy it, immediately after checking it with an electric drill, do preventative repairs and replace Chinese scrap metal with bearings with high-quality lubricant.

If you have large bird nesting areas nearby, it wouldn't hurt to purchase an extra set of blades.

Chicks sometimes get caught in the spinning “mini mill”. Plastic blades break and metal blades bend.

And I would like to end with wisdom from those users who did not listen to all the arguments and came face to face with all the problems described above. Remember, the most expensive weather vane for a home is a wind generator!

The inexhaustible energy that air masses carry with them has always attracted people's attention. Our great-grandfathers learned to harness the wind to the sails and wheels of windmills, after which it rushed aimlessly across the vast expanses of the Earth for two centuries.

Today I found it for him again useful work. A wind generator for a private home goes from being a technical novelty to a real factor in our everyday life.

Let's take a closer look at wind power plants, evaluate the conditions for their profitable use and consider existing varieties. Home craftsmen will receive food for thought on the topic in our article. self-assembly windmill and devices necessary for its efficient operation.

What is a wind generator?

Operating principle of household wind farm is simple: the air flow rotates the rotor blades mounted on the generator shaft and creates alternating current in its windings. The generated electricity is stored in batteries and used by household appliances as needed. Of course, this is a simplified diagram of how a home windmill works. In practical terms, it is complemented by devices that convert electricity.

Immediately behind the generator in the energy chain there is a controller. It converts three-phase alternating current into direct current and directs it to charge the batteries. Most household appliances cannot operate on constant power, so another device is installed behind the batteries - an inverter. It performs the reverse operation: it converts direct current into household alternating current with a voltage of 220 Volts. It is clear that these transformations do not pass without leaving a trace and take away quite a decent portion of the original energy (15-20%).

If the windmill is paired with a solar battery or another electricity generator (gasoline, diesel), then the circuit is supplemented with an automatic switch (ATS). When the main current source is turned off, it activates the backup one.

To obtain maximum power, the wind generator must be located along the wind flow. IN simple systems The weather vane principle is implemented. To do this, a vertical blade is attached to the opposite end of the generator, turning it towards the wind.

More powerful installations have a rotating electric motor controlled by a direction sensor.

Main types of wind generators and their features

There are two types of wind generators:

1. With a horizontal rotor.
2. With vertical rotor.

The first type is the most common. It is characterized by high efficiency (40-50%), but has an increased level of noise and vibration. In addition, its installation requires a large free space (100 meters) or a high mast (from 6 meters).

Generators with a vertical rotor are less energetically efficient (the efficiency is almost 3 times lower than that of horizontal ones).

Their advantages include simple installation and reliable design. Low noise makes it possible to install vertical generators on the roofs of houses and even at ground level. These installations are not afraid of icing and hurricanes. They are launched from a weak wind (from 1.0-2.0 m/s) while a horizontal windmill needs an air flow of medium strength (3.5 m/s and above). Vertical wind generators are very diverse in the shape of the impeller (rotor).

Rotor wheels of vertical wind turbines

Due to the low rotor speed (up to 200 rpm), the mechanical life of such installations significantly exceeds those of horizontal wind generators.

How to calculate and select a wind generator?

Wind is not natural gas pumped through pipes or electricity that uninterruptedly flows through wires into our home. He is capricious and fickle. Today a hurricane tears off roofs and breaks trees, and tomorrow it gives way to complete calm. Therefore, before purchasing or making your own windmill, you need to assess the potential of air energy in your area. To do this, the average annual wind force must be determined. This value can be found on the Internet by request.

Having received such a table, we find the area of ​​​​our residence and look at the intensity of its color, comparing it with the rating scale. If the average annual wind speed is less than 4.0 meters per second, then there is no point in installing a windmill. He won't give required quantity energy.

If the wind strength is sufficient to install a wind power plant, then you can proceed to the next step: selecting the generator power.

If we're talking about about autonomous energy supply at home, then the average statistical electricity consumption of 1 family is taken into account. It ranges from 100 to 300 kWh per month. In regions with low annual wind potential (5-8 m/sec), a wind turbine with a power of 2-3 kW can generate this amount of electricity. It should be taken into account that in winter the average wind speed is higher, so energy production during this period will be greater than in summer.

Selecting a wind generator. Approximate prices

Prices for vertical domestic wind generators with a capacity of 1.5-2.0 kW are in the range from 90 to 110 thousand rubles. The package at this price includes only a generator with blades, without a mast and additional equipment (controller, inverter, cable, batteries). A complete power plant including installation will cost 40-60% more.

The cost of more powerful wind turbines (3-5 kW) ranges from 350 to 450 thousand rubles (from additional equipment and installation work).

DIY windmill. Fun or real savings?

Let’s say right away that making a wind generator with your own hands that is complete and effective is not easy. Proper calculation of the wind wheel, transmission mechanism, selection of a generator suitable for power and speed is a separate topic. We will only give brief recommendations according to the main stages of this process.

Generator

Automotive generators and electric motors from washing machines with direct drive are not suitable for this purpose. They are capable of generating energy from the wind wheel, but it will be insignificant. To operate efficiently, self-generators need very high speeds, which a windmill cannot develop.

Motors for washing machines have another problem. There are ferrite magnets there, but the wind generator needs more efficient ones - neodymium ones. The process of self-installation and winding of current-carrying windings requires patience and high precision.

The power of a device assembled by yourself, as a rule, does not exceed 100-200 watts.

Recently, motor-wheels for bicycles and scooters have become popular among DIYers. From a wind energy standpoint, these are powerful neodymium generators that are optimally suited for working with vertical wind wheels and charging batteries. From such a generator you can extract up to 1 kW of wind energy.

Motor-wheel - a ready-made generator for a homemade wind power plant

Screw

The easiest to manufacture are sail and rotor propellers. The first consists of lightweight curved tubes mounted on a central plate. Blades made of durable fabric. The large windage of the propeller requires hinged fastening of the blades so that during a hurricane they fold and do not become deformed.

The rotary wind wheel design is used for vertical generators. It is easy to manufacture and reliable in operation.

Homemade wind generators with a horizontal axis of rotation are powered by a propeller. Home craftsmen collect it from PVC pipes diameter 160-250 mm. The blades are mounted on a round steel plate with a mounting hole for the generator shaft.

Russia occupies a dual position with regard to wind energy resources. On the one hand, due to the huge total area and the abundance of flat areas, there is generally a lot of wind, and it is mostly even. On the other hand, our winds are predominantly low-potential and slow, see Fig. On the third, in sparsely populated areas the winds are violent. Based on this, the task of installing a wind generator on the farm is quite relevant. But in order to decide whether to buy a fairly expensive device or make it yourself, you need to think carefully about which type (and there are a lot of them) to choose for what purpose.

Basic Concepts

1. KIEV – wind energy utilization coefficient. If a mechanistic flat wind model is used for calculations (see below), it is equal to the efficiency of the rotor of a wind power plant (WPU).
2. Efficiency – end-to-end efficiency of the APU, from the oncoming wind to the terminals of the electric generator, or to the amount of water pumped into the tank.
3. Minimum operating wind speed (MRS) is the speed at which the windmill begins to supply current to the load.
4. The maximum permissible wind speed (MAS) is the speed at which energy production stops: the automation either turns off the generator, or puts the rotor in a weather vane, or folds it and hides it, or the rotor itself stops, or the APU is simply destroyed.
5. Starting wind speed (SW) - at this speed, the rotor is able to turn without load, spin up and enter operating mode, after which the generator can be turned on.
6. Negative starting speed (OSS) - this means that the APU (or wind turbine - wind power unit, or WEA, wind power unit) to start at any wind speed requires mandatory spin-up from an external energy source.
7. Starting (initial) torque is the ability of a rotor, forcibly braked in the air flow, to create torque on the shaft.
8. Wind turbine (WM) is part of the APU from the rotor to the shaft of the generator or pump, or other energy consumer.
9. Rotary wind generator - an APU in which wind energy is converted into torque on the power take-off shaft by rotating the rotor in the air flow.
10. The range of rotor operating speeds is the difference between MMF and MRS when operating at rated load.
11. Low-speed windmill - in it the linear speed of the rotor parts in the flow does not significantly exceed the wind speed or is lower than it. The dynamic pressure of the flow is directly converted into blade thrust.
12. High-speed windmill - the linear speed of the blades is significantly (up to 20 or more times) higher than the wind speed, and the rotor forms its own air circulation. The cycle of converting flow energy into thrust is complex.

Notes:

1. Low-speed APUs, as a rule, have a KIEV lower than high-speed ones, but have a starting torque sufficient to spin up the generator without disconnecting the load and zero TAC, i.e. Absolutely self-starting and usable in the lightest winds.
2. Slowness and speed are relative concepts. A household windmill at 300 rpm can be low-speed, but powerful APUs of the EuroWind type, from which the fields of wind power plants and wind farms are assembled (see figure) and whose rotors make about 10 rpm, are high-speed, because with such a diameter, the linear speed of the blades and their aerodynamics over most of the span are quite “airplane-like”, see below.

What kind of generator do you need?

An electric generator for a domestic windmill must generate electricity over a wide range of rotation speeds and be able to self-start without automation or external power sources. In the case of using APU with OSS (spin-up wind turbines), which, as a rule, have high KIEV and efficiency, it must also be reversible, i.e. be able to work as an engine. At powers up to 5 kW this condition is satisfied electric cars with permanent magnets based on niobium (supermagnets); on steel or ferrite magnets you can count on no more than 0.5-0.7 kW.

Note: asynchronous alternating current generators or collector ones with a non-magnetized stator are completely unsuitable. When the wind force decreases, they will “go out” long before its speed drops to MPC, and then they will not start themselves.

The excellent “heart” of the APU with a power from 0.3 to 1-2 kW is obtained from an alternating current self-generator with a built-in rectifier; these are the majority now. First, they maintain an output voltage of 11.6-14.7 V over a fairly wide speed range without external electronic stabilizers. Secondly, the silicon valves open when the voltage on the winding reaches approximately 1.4 V, and before that the generator “does not see” the load. To do this, the generator needs to be spun up quite decently.

In most cases, a self-generator can be directly connected, without a gear or belt drive, to the shaft of a high-speed high-pressure engine, selecting the speed by selecting the number of blades, see below. “High-speed trains” have a small or zero starting torque, but the rotor, even without disconnecting the load, will have time to spin sufficiently before the valves open and the generator produces current.

Choosing according to the wind

Before deciding what type of wind generator to make, let’s decide on the local aerology. In gray-greenish(windless) areas of the wind map, only a sailing wind engine will be of any use(We’ll talk about them later). If you need a constant power supply, you will have to add a booster (rectifier with voltage stabilizer), charger, powerful battery, inverter 12/24/36/48 V DC to 220/380 V 50 Hz AC. Such a facility will cost no less than $20,000, and it is unlikely that it will be possible to remove long-term power of more than 3-4 kW. In general, with an unwavering desire for alternative energy, it is better to look for another source.

In yellow-green, low-wind places, if you need electricity up to 2-3 kW, you can use a low-speed vertical wind generator yourself. There are countless of them developed, and there are designs that are almost as good as “blade” ones in terms of KIEV and efficiency. industrial production.

If you plan to buy a wind turbine for your home, then it is better to focus on a wind turbine with a sail rotor. There are many controversies, and in theory everything is not yet clear, but they work. In the Russian Federation, “sailboats” are produced in Taganrog with a power of 1-100 kW.

In red, windy regions, the choice depends on the required power. In the range of 0.5-1.5 kW, homemade “verticals” are justified; 1.5-5 kW – purchased “sailboats”. "Vertical" can also be purchased, but will cost more than the APU horizontal scheme. And finally, if you need a wind turbine with a power of 5 kW or more, then you need to choose between horizontal purchased “blades” or “sailboats”.

Note: Many manufacturers, especially the second tier, offer kits of parts from which you can assemble a wind generator with a power of up to 10 kW yourself. Such a kit will cost 20-50% less than a ready-made kit with installation. But before purchasing, you need to carefully study the aerology of the intended installation location, and then select the appropriate type and model according to the specifications.

About security

The parts of a wind turbine for household use in operation can have a linear speed exceeding 120 and even 150 m/s, and a piece of any solid material weighing 20 g, flying at a speed of 100 m/s, with a “successful” hit, will kill a healthy man outright. A steel or hard plastic plate 2 mm thick, moving at a speed of 20 m/s, cuts it in half.

In addition, most wind turbines with a power of more than 100 W are quite noisy. Many generate air pressure fluctuations of ultra-low (less than 16 Hz) frequencies - infrasounds. Infrasounds are inaudible, but are harmful to health and travel very far.

Note: in the late 80s there was a scandal in the United States - the largest wind farm in the country at that time had to be closed. Indians from a reservation 200 km from the field of its wind farm proved in court that their health disorders, which sharply increased after the wind farm was put into operation, were caused by its infrasounds.

Due to the above reasons, installation of APUs is allowed at a distance of at least 5 of their heights from the nearest residential buildings. In the courtyards of private households, it is possible to install industrially manufactured windmills that are appropriately certified. It is generally impossible to install APUs on roofs - during their operation, even low-power ones, alternating mechanical loads arise that can cause resonance of the building structure and its destruction.

Note: the height of the APU is considered highest point a swept disk (for bladed rotors) or a geometric figure (for vertical APUs with a rotor on a shaft). If the APU mast or the rotor axis protrude even higher, the height is calculated by their top - the top.

Wind, aerodynamics, KIEV

A homemade wind generator obeys the same laws of nature as a factory one, calculated on a computer. And the do-it-yourselfer needs to understand the basics of his work very well - most often he does not have expensive, state-of-the-art materials and technological equipment at his disposal. The aerodynamics of the APU are oh so difficult...

Wind and KIEV

To calculate serial factory APUs, the so-called. flat mechanistic model of wind. It is based on the following assumptions:

• Wind speed and direction are constant within the effective rotor surface.
• Air is a continuous medium.
• The effective surface of the rotor is equal to the swept area.
• The energy of the air flow is purely kinetic.

Under such conditions, the maximum energy per unit volume of air is calculated using the school formula, assuming the air density under normal conditions is 1.29 kg*cubic. m. At a wind speed of 10 m/s, one cube of air carries 65 J, and from one square of the effective surface of the rotor, with 100% efficiency of the entire APU, 650 W can be removed. This is a very simplified approach - everyone knows that the wind is never perfectly even. But this has to be done to ensure repeatability of products - a common thing in technology.

The flat model should not be ignored; it gives a clear minimum of available wind energy. But air, firstly, is compressible, and secondly, it is very fluid (dynamic viscosity is only 17.2 μPa * s). This means that the flow can flow around the swept area, reducing the effective surface and KIEV, which is most often observed. But in principle, the opposite situation is also possible: the wind flows towards the rotor and the effective surface area will then be greater than the swept one, and the KIEV will be greater than 1 relative to it for a flat wind.

Let's give two examples. The first is a pleasure yacht, quite heavy; the yacht can sail not only against the wind, but also faster than it. Wind means external; the apparent wind must still be faster, otherwise how will it pull the ship?

The second is a classic of aviation history. During tests of the MIG-19, it turned out that the interceptor, which was a ton heavier than the front-line fighter, accelerates faster in speed. With the same engines in the same airframe.

The theorists did not know what to think, and seriously doubted the law of conservation of energy. In the end, it turned out that the problem was the cone of the radar radome protruding from the air intake. From its toe to the shell, an air compaction arose, as if raking it from the sides to the engine compressors. Since then, shock waves have become firmly established in theory as useful, and the fantastic flight performance of modern aircraft is due in no small part to their skillful use.

Aerodynamics

The development of aerodynamics is usually divided into two eras - before N. G. Zhukovsky and after. His report “On Attached Vortexes” dated November 15, 1905 marked the beginning of a new era in aviation.

Before Zhukovsky, they flew with flat sails: it was assumed that the particles of the oncoming flow gave all their momentum to the leading edge of the wing. This made it possible to immediately get rid of the vector quantity - angular momentum - which gave rise to tooth-breaking and most often non-analytical mathematics, move to much more convenient scalar purely energy relations, and ultimately obtain a calculated pressure field on the load-bearing plane, more or less similar to the real one.

This mechanistic approach made it possible to create devices that could, at the very least, take to the air and fly from one place to another, without necessarily crashing to the ground somewhere along the way. But the desire to increase speed, load capacity and other flight qualities increasingly revealed the imperfections of the original aerodynamic theory.

Zhukovsky's idea was this: the air travels a different path along the upper and lower surfaces of the wing. From the condition of continuity of the medium (vacuum bubbles by themselves do not form in the air) it follows that the velocities of the upper and lower flows descending from the trailing edge should be different. Due to the small but finite viscosity of the air, a vortex should form there due to the difference in speeds.

The vortex rotates, and the law of conservation of momentum, as immutable as the law of conservation of energy, is also valid for vector quantities, i.e. must also take into account the direction of movement. Therefore, right there, on the trailing edge, a counter-rotating vortex with the same torque should form. Due to what? Due to the energy generated by the engine.

For aviation practice, this meant a revolution: by choosing the appropriate wing profile, it was possible to send an attached vortex around the wing in the form of a circulation G, increasing its lift. That is, by spending part, and for high speeds and loads on the wing – most of the motor power, you can create an air flow around the device, allowing you to achieve better flight qualities.

This made aviation aviation, and not part of aeronautics: now the aircraft could create for itself the environment necessary for flight and no longer be a toy of air currents. All you need is a more powerful engine, and more and more powerful...

KIEV again

But the windmill does not have a motor. On the contrary, it must take energy from the wind and give it to consumers. And here it turns out - his legs were pulled out, his tail got stuck. We used too little wind energy for the rotor’s own circulation - it will be weak, the thrust of the blades will be low, and the KIEV and power will be low. We will give a lot to the circulation - the rotor will be on Idling spinning like crazy, but consumers again get little: they barely applied the load, the rotor slowed down, the wind blew away the circulation, and the rotor stopped.

The law of conservation of energy gives the “golden mean” right in the middle: we give 50% of the energy to the load, and for the remaining 50% we turn up the flow to the optimum. Practice confirms the assumptions: if good efficiency the pulling propeller is 75-80%, then the KIEV of the bladed rotor, also carefully calculated and blown in the wind tunnel, reaches 38-40%, i.e. up to half of what can be achieved with excess energy.

Modernity

Nowadays, aerodynamics, armed with modern mathematics and computers, is increasingly moving away from inevitably simplifying models towards an accurate description of the behavior of a real body in a real flow. And here, in addition to the general line - power, power, and once again power! – side paths are discovered, but promising precisely when the amount of energy entering the system is limited.

The famous alternative aviator Paul McCready created an airplane back in the 80s with two chainsaw motors with a power of 16 hp. showing 360 km/h. Moreover, its chassis was tricycle, non-retractable, and its wheels were without fairings. None of McCready's devices went online or went on combat duty, but two - one with piston engines and propellers, and the other a jet - for the first time in history flew around the globe without landing at the same gas station.

The development of the theory also affected the sails that gave birth to the original wing quite significantly. “Live” aerodynamics allowed the yachts to operate in winds of 8 knots. stand on hydrofoils (see figure); to accelerate such a hulk to required speed propeller, requires an engine of at least 100 hp. Racing catamarans sail at a speed of about 30 knots in the same wind. (55 km/h).

There are also finds that are completely non-trivial. Fans of the rarest and most extreme sport - base jumping - wearing a special wing suit, wingsuit, fly without a motor, maneuvering at a speed of more than 200 km/h (picture on the right), and then smoothly land in a pre-selected place. In which fairy tale do people fly on their own?

Many mysteries of nature were also resolved; in particular, the flight of a beetle. According to classical aerodynamics, it is not capable of flying. Just like the founder of the stealth aircraft, the F-117, with its diamond-shaped wing, is also unable to take off. And the MIG-29 and Su-27, which can fly tail first for some time, do not fit into any idea at all.

And why then, when working on wind turbines, not a fun thing and not a tool for destroying their own kind, but a source of a vital resource, do you need to dance away from the theory of weak flows with its flat wind model? Is there really no way to move forward?

What to expect from the classics?

However, one should not abandon the classics under any circumstances. It provides a foundation without which one cannot rise higher without relying on it. Just as set theory does not abolish the multiplication table, and quantum chromodynamics will not make apples fly up from the trees.

So, what can you expect with the classical approach? Let's look at the picture. On the left are types of rotors; they are depicted conditionally. 1 – vertical carousel, 2 – vertical orthogonal (wind turbine); 2-5 – bladed rotors with different numbers of blades with optimized profiles.

On the right along the horizontal axis is the relative speed of the rotor, i.e., the ratio of the linear speed of the blade to the wind speed. Vertical up - KIEV. And down - again, relative torque. A single (100%) torque is considered to be that which is created by a rotor forcibly braked in the flow with 100% KIEV, i.e. when all the flow energy is converted into rotating force.

This approach allows us to draw far-reaching conclusions. For example, the number of blades must be selected not only and not so much according to the desired rotation speed: 3- and 4-blades immediately lose a lot in terms of KIEV and torque compared to 2- and 6-blades that work well in approximately the same speed range. And the outwardly similar carousel and orthogonal have fundamentally different properties.

In general, preference should be given to bladed rotors, except in cases where extreme low cost, simplicity, maintenance-free self-starting without automation are required, and lifting onto a mast is impossible.

Note: Let's talk about sailing rotors in particular - they don't seem to fit into the classics.

Verticals

APUs with a vertical axis of rotation have an undeniable advantage for everyday life: their components requiring maintenance are concentrated at the bottom and no lifting is required. There remains, and even then not always, a thrust-support self-aligning bearing, but it is strong and durable. Therefore, when designing a simple wind generator, the selection of options should begin with verticals. Their main types are presented in Fig.

Sun

In the first position is the simplest one, most often called the Savonius rotor. In fact, it was invented in 1924 in the USSR by J. A. and A. A. Voronin, and the Finnish industrialist Sigurd Savonius shamelessly appropriated the invention, ignoring the Soviet copyright certificate, and began serial production. But the introduction of an invention in the future means a lot, so in order not to stir up the past and not disturb the ashes of the deceased, we will call this windmill a Voronin-Savonius rotor, or for short, VS.

The aircraft is good for the home-made man, except for the “locomotive” KIEV at 10-18%. However, in the USSR they worked a lot on it, and there are developments. Below we will look at an improved design, not much more complex, but according to KIEV, it gives bladers a head start.

Note: the two-blade aircraft does not spin, but jerks jerkily; The 4-blade is only slightly smoother, but loses a lot in KIEV. To improve, 4-trough blades are most often divided into two floors - a pair of blades below, and another pair, rotated 90 degrees horizontally, above them. KIEV is preserved, and the lateral loads on the mechanics weaken, but the bending loads increase somewhat, and with a wind of more than 25 m/s such an APU is on the shaft, i.e. without a bearing stretched by cables above the rotor, it “tears down the tower.”

Daria

Next is the Daria rotor; KIEV – up to 20%. It is even simpler: the blades are made of a simple elastic tape without any profile. The theory of the Darrieus rotor is not yet sufficiently developed. It is only clear that it begins to unwind due to the difference aerodynamic drag hump and pocket of the tape, and then becomes sort of high-speed, forming its own circulation.

The torque is small, and in the starting positions of the rotor parallel and perpendicular to the wind it is completely absent, so self-spin is possible only with an odd number of blades (wings?) In any case, the load from the generator must be disconnected during spin-up.

The Daria rotor has two more bad qualities. Firstly, when rotating, the thrust vector of the blade describes a full rotation relative to its aerodynamic focus, and not smoothly, but jerkily. Therefore, the Darrieus rotor quickly breaks down its mechanics even in a steady wind.

Secondly, Daria not only makes noise, but screams and squeals, to the point that the tape breaks. This happens due to its vibration. And the more blades, the stronger the roar. So, if they make a Daria, it is with two blades, from expensive high-strength sound-absorbing materials (carbon, mylar), and a small aircraft is used for spinning in the middle of the mast-pole.

Orthogonal

At pos. 3 – orthogonal vertical rotor with profiled blades. Orthogonal because the wings stick out vertically. The transition from BC to orthogonal is illustrated in Fig. left.

The angle of installation of the blades relative to the tangent to the circle touching the aerodynamic foci of the wings can be either positive (in the figure) or negative, depending on the wind force. Sometimes the blades are made rotating and weather vanes are placed on them, automatically holding the “alpha”, but such structures often break.

The central body (blue in the figure) allows you to increase the KIEV to almost 50%. In a three-blade orthogonal, it should have the shape of a triangle in cross-section with slightly convex sides and rounded corners, and with a larger number of blades, a simple cylinder is sufficient. But the theory for the orthogonal gives an unambiguous optimal number of blades: there should be exactly 3 of them.

Orthogonal refers to high-speed wind turbines with OSS, i.e. necessarily requires promotion during commissioning and after calm. According to the orthogonal scheme, serial maintenance-free APUs with a power of up to 20 kW are produced.

Helicoid

Helicoidal rotor, or Gorlov rotor (item 4) is a type of orthogonal that ensures uniform rotation; an orthogonal with straight wings “tears” only slightly weaker than a two-bladed aircraft. Bending the blades along a helicoid allows one to avoid losses of CIEV due to their curvature. Although the curved blade rejects part of the flow without using it, it also scoops part into the zone of highest linear speed, compensating for losses. Helicoids are used less often than other wind turbines, because Due to the complexity of manufacturing, they are more expensive than their counterparts of equal quality.

Barrel raking

For 5 pos. – BC type rotor surrounded by a guide vane; its diagram is shown in Fig. on right. It is rarely found in industrial applications, because expensive land acquisition does not compensate for the increase in capacity, and the material consumption and complexity of production are high. But a do-it-yourselfer who is afraid of work is no longer a master, but a consumer, and if you need no more than 0.5-1.5 kW, then for him a “barrel-raking” is a tidbit:

• A rotor of this type is absolutely safe, silent, does not create vibrations and can be installed anywhere, even on a playground.
• Bending a galvanized “trough” and welding a frame of pipes is nonsense work.
• The rotation is absolutely uniform, the mechanical parts can be taken from the cheapest or from the trash.
• Not afraid of hurricanes - too strong a wind cannot push into the “barrel”; a streamlined vortex cocoon appears around it (we will encounter this effect later).
• And the most important thing is that since the surface of the “barrel” is several times larger than that of the rotor inside, the KIEV can be over-unit, and the rotational moment already at 3 m/s for a “barrel” of three-meter diameter is such that a 1 kW generator with a maximum load of They say it’s better not to twitch.

Video: Lenz wind generator

In the 60s in the USSR, E. S. Biryukov patented a carousel APU with a KIEV of 46%. A little later, V. Blinov achieved 58% KIEV from a design based on the same principle, but there is no data on its testing. And full-scale tests of Biryukov’s APU were carried out by employees of the magazine “Inventor and Innovator”. A two-story rotor with a diameter of 0.75 m and a height of 2 m in a fresh wind spun a 1.2 kW asynchronous generator to full power and withstood 30 m/s without breakdown. Drawings of Biryukov's APU are shown in Fig.

1. rotor made of galvanized roofing;
2. self-aligning double row ball bearing;
3. shrouds – 5 mm steel cable;
4. axis-shaft – steel pipe with a wall thickness of 1.5-2.5 mm;
5. aerodynamic speed control levers;
6. speed control blades – 3-4 mm plywood or sheet plastic;
7. speed control rods;
8. speed controller load, its weight determines the rotation speed;
9. drive pulley - a bicycle wheel without a tire with a tube;
10. thrust bearing - thrust bearing;
11. driven pulley – standard generator pulley;
12. generator.

Biryukov received several copyright certificates for his Armed Forces. First, pay attention to the cut of the rotor. When accelerating, it works like an aircraft, creating a large starting torque. As it spins, a vortex cushion is created in the outer pockets of the blades. From the wind's point of view, the blades become profiled and the rotor becomes a high-speed orthogonal, with the virtual profile changing according to the wind strength.

Secondly, the profiled channel between the blades acts as a central body in the operating speed range. If the wind intensifies, then a vortex cushion is also created in it, extending beyond the rotor. The same vortex cocoon appears as around the APU with a guide vane. The energy for its creation is taken from the wind, and it is no longer enough to break the windmill.

Thirdly, the speed controller is intended primarily for the turbine. It keeps its speed optimal from the KIEV point of view. And the optimum generator rotation speed is ensured by the choice of mechanical transmission ratio.

Note: after publications in the IR for 1965, the Armed Forces of Ukraine Biryukova sank into oblivion. The author never received a response from the authorities. The fate of many Soviet inventions. They say that some Japanese became a billionaire by regularly reading Soviet popular-technical magazines and patenting everything worthy of attention.

Lopastniki

As stated, according to the classics, a horizontal wind generator with a bladed rotor is the best. But, firstly, it needs a stable wind of at least medium strength. Secondly, the design for a do-it-yourselfer is fraught with many pitfalls, which is why often the fruit of long hard work, at best, illuminates a toilet, hallway or porch, or even turns out to only be able to unwind itself.

According to the diagrams in Fig. Let's take a closer look; positions:

• Fig. A:

1. rotor blades;
2. generator;
3. generator frame;
4. protective weather vane (hurricane shovel);
5. current collector;
6. chassis;
7. swivel unit;
8. working weather vane;
9. mast;
10. clamp for the shrouds.

• Fig. B, top view:

1. protective weather vane;
2. working weather vane;
3. protective weather vane spring tension regulator.

• Fig. G, current collector:

1. collector with copper continuous ring busbars;
2. spring-loaded copper-graphite brushes.

Note: Hurricane protection for a horizontal blade with a diameter of more than 1 m is absolutely necessary, because he is not capable of creating a vortex cocoon around himself. With smaller sizes, it is possible to achieve a rotor endurance of up to 30 m/s with propylene blades.

So, where do we stumble?

Blades

Expecting to achieve a power on the generator shaft of more than 150-200 W on blades of any size cut from a thick-walled plastic pipe, as is often advised, is the hope of a hopeless amateur. A pipe blade (unless it is so thick that it is simply used as a blank) will have a segmented profile, i.e. its top or both surfaces will be arcs of a circle.

Segmented profiles are suitable for incompressible media, say hydrofoils or blades propeller. For gases, a blade of variable profile and pitch is needed, for an example, see Fig.; span - 2 m. This will be a complex and labor-intensive product, requiring painstaking calculations in full theory, blowing in a pipe and full-scale testing.

Generator

If the rotor is mounted directly on its shaft, the standard bearing will soon break - there is no equal load on all the blades in windmills. You need an intermediate shaft with a special support bearing and a mechanical transmission from it to the generator. For large windmills, the support bearing is a self-aligning double-row one; V best models– three-tiered, Fig. D in Fig. higher. This allows the rotor shaft not only to bend slightly, but also to move slightly from side to side or up and down.

Note: It took about 30 years to develop a support bearing for the EuroWind type APU.

Emergency weather vane

The principle of its operation is shown in Fig. B. The wind, intensifying, puts pressure on the shovel, the spring stretches, the rotor warps, its speed drops and eventually it becomes parallel to the flow. Everything seems to be fine, but it was smooth on paper...

On a windy day, try holding a boiler lid or a large saucepan by the handle parallel to the wind. Just be careful - the fidgety piece of iron can hit you in the face so hard that it breaks your nose, cuts your lip, or even knocks out your eye.

Flat wind occurs only in theoretical calculations and, with sufficient accuracy for practice, in wind tunnels. In reality, a hurricane damages windmills with a hurricane shovel more than completely defenseless ones. It’s better to change damaged blades than to do everything again. In industrial installations it is a different matter. There, the pitch of the blades, each individually, is monitored and adjusted by automation under the control of the on-board computer. And they are made from heavy-duty composites, not water pipes.

Current collector

This is a regularly serviced unit. Any power engineer knows that the commutator with brushes needs to be cleaned, lubricated, and adjusted. And the mast is from water pipe. If you can’t climb, once every month or two you’ll have to throw the entire windmill down to the ground and then pick it up again. How long will he last from such “prevention”?

Video: bladed wind generator + solar panel for power supply to a dacha

Mini and micro

But as the size of the paddle decreases, the difficulties fall according to the square of the wheel diameter. It is already possible to manufacture a horizontal bladed APU on your own with a power of up to 100 W. A 6-bladed one would be optimal. With more blades, the diameter of the rotor designed for the same power will be smaller, but they will be difficult to firmly attach to the hub. Rotors with less than 6 blades need not be taken into account: a 2-blade 100 W rotor needs a rotor with a diameter of 6.34 m, and a 4-blade of the same power needs 4.5 m. For a 6-blade, the power-diameter relationship is expressed as follows :

• 10 W – 1.16 m.
• 20 W – 1.64 m.
• 30 W – 2 m.
• 40 W – 2.32 m.
• 50 W – 2.6 m.
• 60 W – 2.84 m.
• 70 W – 3.08 m.
• 80 W – 3.28 m.
• 90 W – 3.48 m.
• 100 W – 3.68 m.
• 300 W – 6.34 m.

It would be optimal to count on a power of 10-20 W. Firstly, a plastic blade with a span of more than 0.8 m without additional measures protection will not withstand winds of more than 20 m/s. Secondly, with a blade span of up to the same 0.8 m, the linear speed of its ends will not exceed the wind speed by more than three times, and the requirements for profiling with twist are reduced by orders of magnitude; here a “trough” with a segmented pipe profile, pos. B in Fig. And 10-20 W will provide power to a tablet, recharge a smartphone, or illuminate a house-saving light bulb.

Next, select a generator. A Chinese motor is perfect - wheel hub for electric bicycles, pos. 1 in Fig. Its power as a motor is 200-300 W, but in generator mode it will give up to about 100 W. But will it suit us in terms of speed?

The speed index z for 6 blades is 3. The formula for calculating the rotation speed under load is N = v/l*z*60, where N is the rotation speed, 1/min, v is the wind speed, and l is the rotor circumference. With a blade span of 0.8 m and a wind of 5 m/s, we get 72 rpm; at 20 m/s – 288 rpm. A bicycle wheel also rotates at approximately the same speed, so we will take off our 10-20 W from a generator capable of producing 100. You can place the rotor directly on its shaft.

But here the following problem arises: after spending a lot of work and money, at least on a motor, we got... a toy! What is 10-20, well, 50 W? But you can’t make a bladed windmill capable of powering even a TV at home. Is it possible to buy a ready-made mini-wind generator, and wouldn’t it be cheaper? As much as possible, and as cheaply as possible, see pos. 4 and 5. In addition, it will also be mobile. Place it on a stump and use it.

The second option is if a stepper motor from an old 5- or 8-inch floppy drive is lying around somewhere, or from a paper drive or carriage of an unusable inkjet or dot matrix printer. It can work as a generator, and attach a carousel rotor to it from tin cans(pos. 6) is easier than assembling a structure like the one shown in pos. 3.

In general, the conclusion regarding “blade blades” is clear: homemade ones are more likely for tinkering to your heart’s content, but not for real long-term energy output.

Video: the simplest wind generator for lighting a dacha

Sailboats

The sailing wind generator has been known for a long time, but soft panels on its blades (see figure) began to be made with the advent of high-strength, wear-resistant synthetic fabrics and films. Multi-bladed windmills with rigid sails are widely used around the world as a drive for low-power automatic water pumps, but their technical specifications are lower even than those of carousels.

However, a soft sail like a windmill wing, it seems, turned out to be not so simple. The point is not about wind resistance (manufacturers do not limit the maximum permissible wind speed): sailboat sailors already know that it is almost impossible for the wind to tear the panel of a Bermuda sail. Most likely, the sheet will be torn out, or the mast will be broken, or the whole vessel will make an “overkill turn.” It's about energy.

Unfortunately, exact test data cannot be found. Based on user reviews, it was possible to create “synthetic” dependencies for the installation of a Taganrog-made wind turbine-4.380/220.50 with a wind wheel diameter of 5 m, a wind head weight of 160 kg and a rotation speed of up to 40 1/min; they are presented in Fig.

Of course, there can be no guarantees for 100% reliability, but it is clear that there is no smell of a flat-mechanistic model here. There is no way a 5-meter wheel in a flat wind of 3 m/s can produce about 1 kW, at 7 m/s reach a plateau in power and then maintain it until a severe storm. Manufacturers, by the way, state that the nominal 4 kW can be obtained at 3 m/s, but when installed by forces based on the results of studies of local aerology.

There is also no quantitative theory to be found; The developers' explanations are unclear. However, since people buy Taganrog wind turbines and they work, we can only assume that the declared conical circulation and propulsive effect are not a fiction. In any case, they are possible.

Then, it turns out, IN FRONT of the rotor, according to the law of conservation of momentum, a conical vortex should also arise, but expanding and slow. And such a funnel will drive the wind towards the rotor, its effective surface will be more swept, and the KIEV will be more than unity.

Field measurements of the pressure field in front of the rotor, even with a household aneroid, could shed light on this issue. If it turns out to be higher than on the sides, then, indeed, the sailing APUs work like a beetle flies.

Homemade generator

From what has been said above, it is clear that it is better for homemade craftsmen to take on either verticals or sailboats. But both are very slow, and transmission to a high-speed generator is extra work, extra costs and losses. Is it possible to make an efficient low-speed electric generator yourself?

Yes, you can, on magnets made of niobium alloy, so-called. supermagnets. The manufacturing process of the main parts is shown in Fig. Coils - each of 55 turns of 1 mm copper wire in heat-resistant high-strength enamel insulation, PEMM, PETV, etc. The height of the windings is 9 mm.

Pay attention to the grooves for the keys in the rotor halves. They must be positioned so that the magnets (they are glued to the magnetic core with epoxy or acrylic) converge with opposite poles after assembly. “Pancakes” (magnetic cores) must be made of a soft magnetic ferromagnet; Regular structural steel will do. The thickness of the “pancakes” is at least 6 mm.

In general, it is better to buy magnets with an axial hole and tighten them with screws; supermagnets attract with terrible force. For the same reason, a cylindrical spacer 12 mm high is placed on the shaft between the “pancakes”.

The windings that make up the stator sections are connected according to the diagrams also shown in Fig. The soldered ends should not be stretched, but should form loops, otherwise the epoxy with which the stator will be filled may harden and break the wires.

The stator is poured into the mold to a thickness of 10 mm. There is no need to center or balance, the stator does not rotate. The gap between the rotor and stator is 1 mm on each side. The stator in the generator housing must be securely secured not only from displacement along the axis, but also from rotation; a strong magnetic field with current in the load will pull it along with it.

Video: DIY windmill generator

Conclusion

And what do we have in the end? The interest in “blade blades” is explained rather by their spectacular appearance, than actual performance in a home-made version and at low power. A homemade carousel APU will provide “standby” power for charging a car battery or powering a small house.

But with sailing APUs it is worth experimenting with craftsmen with a creative streak, especially in the mini version, with a wheel 1-2 m in diameter. If the developers’ assumptions are correct, then it will be possible to remove all 200-300 W from this one, using the Chinese engine-generator described above.

Andrey said:

Thank you for your free consultation... And the prices “from companies” are not really expensive, and I think that craftsmen from the outback will be able to make generators similar to yours. And Li-po batteries can be ordered from China, inverters in Chelyabinsk make very good ones (with smooth sine). And sails, blades or rotors are another reason for the flight of thought of our handy Russian men.

Ivan said:

question:
For windmills with a vertical axis (position 1) and the “Lenz” option, it is possible to add an additional part - an impeller that points in the direction of the wind, and covers the useless side from it (going towards the wind). That is, the wind will not slow down the blade, but this “screen”. Positioning downwind with the “tail” located behind the windmill itself below and above the blades (ridges). I read the article and an idea was born.

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